The Cowboy and the Shepherdess
by BurningCrashingRaining
Summary: Set after Woody and co. are safe with Bonnie, the story is from the POV of Little Bo Peep. Rated T for dark themes and because I'm paranoid.


**Author's Note: Alright, so my best friend is seriously **_**obsessed**_** with Toy Story, especially the third one, and I've been promising her I would write this for a while now. I've finally gotten down to it, so Eva this one is for you. :D**

**Disclaimer: Apparently bad things will happen if I don't do this, so… I do not own Toy Story.**

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><p>Bo Peep watched from the windows. She had been sold over three years ago, and had been so <em>alone<em> ever since. It was true that she had friends in her new space, but none of them could ever compete with the ones she had had to leave behind. They knew that, too, but they didn't care. They did their best to keep her happy, away from the dark thoughts that often plagued her, lingering in her sweet and cheerful demeanor.

The china shepherdess sighed, and leaned her head against the window. Sarge would be coming by any minute now. Of all her friends, he was the only one she still had contact with. He would bring her news of how the others were doing. It was the only thing sustaining her. Bo was surviving after everything. But she didn't want to just survive anymore. She didn't want to just have a place in the world, an existence. No, Little Bo Peep wanted to _live._ And she had – when she was with Woody. The cowboy had taken her by the hand, and held on through everything. He'd shown her that life was not four walls, a floor, and a ceiling. It wasn't grey walls, or boundaries. No, life was an open field. It was color, and exploring the boundaries. It was finding your limit, and pushing yourself past it, stretching yourself farther than you could, and loving every minute of it. It was pain, and love. Hate, and hope. Lies, and truth. More than anything, life was _feeling. _But Bo wasn't feeling anything anymore. She was just _there_. And that was a dangerous place to be stuck in.

Sarge poked his head through the window cautiously. He was the bearer of bad news, and he was afraid of what Bo would do when she heard. The china doll caught sight of the green soldier, and her face lit up. The sergeant felt guilt like a sack in the stomach at the sight of the happy face that he would have to crush in a matter of seconds. The doll embraced the plastic soldier happily. Sarge hugged back as tightly as he dared. He would take comfort in this last embrace.

Bo Peep sat stunned as Sarge hovered worriedly. She shook her head, and forced herself to smile at him. She didn't blame him; it wasn't his fault. But still… It hurt to think of her friends given to another child. But Andy wasn't a child anymore. And he'd done the right thing, giving her friends to a young girl who would play with them. _'Bonnie.'_ Bo thought, correcting her mind. _'The girl's name is Bonnie.'_

Sarge left Bo with a sense of worry. He hadn't believed her when she reassured him that she was fine. But then, Bo hadn't been fine since she had been sold six years ago. Bo hadn't been fine since she had had to leave behind all her friends. '_And Woody.' _Sarge thought. The cowboy had had a hard time adjusting without Bo, but he had others to think of, others who needed looking after. That had given him something to do. Bo hadn't had anybody to look after. And she hadn't been able to look after herself. Since she'd met Woody, the sheriff had taken it upon himself to look after her. There hadn't been any Woody to look after her for six years. And now Little Bo Peep had finally shattered.

It was with a sense of dread that Sarge went to Woody. He had not been seen since he and his men had jumped out the window that fateful day. When his friends had seen him, they had been in a state of disbelief. But he was welcomed, made to feel like he belonged. Then Sarge had asked for a word with Woody. The others had complained, saying that they hadn't seen him in so long, and he wanted to speak to Woody privately. Woody had told Sarge that he could speak freely in front of them all. Sarge had shaken his head. _"It isn't anything good." _He'd warned the sheriff. _"We almost __**died, **__Sarge. We stick together." _Buzz Lightyear answered for his friend. The army man had sighed and given in. _"It's about Bo."_

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><p>Woody galloped on Bullseye's back, urging him ever faster. How he wished now that he had listened to Sarge when he had said it wasn't good news he brought. It was too late to wish for that now. The cowboy just had to get to the house Sarge had described before the shepherdess that he loved did anything stupid. Faster and faster Bullseye ran, but no speed would have been fast enough. Woody arrived at the foot of the driveway just as a blonde and white figure plummeted from the window with a look of peace on a face that just minutes earlier had been tormented. Woody watched the doll he love shatter on impact. The sheriff leaped off Bullseye and ran to the china fragments scattered on the ground. He fell to his knees as he saw the piece that held his love's face. Woody cradled that small piece in his hands as he sat numbly, devastated. The sheriff looked up and saw a familiar house that still haunted his dreams. Then he realized. It was Andy's house. Little Bo Peep had been right beside him all along, and he hadn't even known it. <em>'But she had.' <em>He realized. Why else would she be by the window night and day? She had seen the toys she had loved become a smaller and smaller group, until one day, they were just gone.

Bullseye watched his rider sadly. All he could gather was that the figure that had met the ground had meant something to the cowboy. He walked closer and saw the face that the sheriff held in his hands. The horse felt something in him drop. Little Bo Peep had always been kind to Bullseye. She had played with him, and stroked him when he felt bad, and she had loved him. And Bullseye had loved her. Not as much as Woody had, nobody could have ever have loved Bo as much as Woody. But all the same, Bullseye had loved her. And Jessie had loved her, too. The shepherdess and the cowgirl had been fond of one another. Bo had spotted the relationship with Buzz from the moment the space ranger had laid eyes on the ginger braided pigtailed cowgirl. And Jessie had smoothed things over between Woody and Bo whenever they had a fight.

Ignoring Bullseye's shrill whinnies of panic, Woody walked into the road, and waited to meet the car. It was with a sense of bliss that he felt his seams and stitching come undone. And as he rose out and above himself, he could have sworn he heard the light giggle of Little Bo Peep.

As Bullseye galloped back to Jessie and Bonnie, he thought that his saddlebag containing Bo's face and Woody's sheriff star had never felt so heavy.

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><p><strong>AN: Um, I personally hate it, but let me know what you think?**

**Love!**


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